The pictures spread all over the world. While the World Cup starts on November 20 at Qatar, the organizers of the tournament have shared several videos of the arrival of the “supporters” from various countries who have qualified for the competition. Thus we can see scenes of jubilation from French, German, Brazilian and even Argentinian fans. Only here, these supporters all have something in common as Indians. In Qatar, the Indian community is very present, as nearly 700,000 Indians live within the emirate, compared to just over 300,000 Qataris. Coupled with about 1.8 million people from various countries.

Facing these controversial images, doubts cast a shadow over the sincerity of the supporters. Many netizens then immediately suspected Qatar of paying extra to represent the various countries involved in the World Cup. To clarify this issue, Parisian went to see Thoufeer Kaitha Valappil, president of the French football fan club India Group. The latter ensures that its collective members are not paid by the Qatari government: “We are not paid for anyone. I have never received a penny from anyone. Nobody got anything, not even a penny.“

Meanwhile, Olivier Giroud greeted with the warm welcome smile given to the Blues when they arrived at their hotel on Wednesday. Present at the press conference this Thursday, 17 November, the striker for the French team expressed his awe at this scene of joy: “Very surprised. It was late, time for dinner. Always nice to feel welcomed like that. We weren’t able to say hi to the fans outside but we received a great welcome in the hotel lobby. It reminds me a bit of Russia where the people are very warm.“The current second highest goalscorer in EDF history also stated with humor his surprise at the sheer number of Indian fans:”I didn’t know that Indians are backing the French team. It is the weight given that they are how much… a billion? (smile)The reigning world champions will make their debut in the competition on November 22 against Australia.

Arrival of the blues at their hotel, with the fans already present at the venue pic.twitter.com/S2Oc1kDlkG

— Cerfia Foot (@CerfiaFoot) November 16, 2022

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